As the heavy iron gate slowly rose under the power of the capstan, the majestic Royal City of Ansu opened its gates to the guardian of the kingdom. Under the lead gray clouds, a team of more than ten carriages and a large number of Knight and guards entered the city.
The wheels of the carriages rolled on the old stone road that had hundreds of years of history. The slightly loose stone slabs trembled slightly, and the small stones squeaked between the wheels and the stone slabs. However, this squeaking sound did not last long before it was covered up by the sudden sound of flutes and drums played by the musicians in the team.
Victoria slightly opened the cover on one side of the carriage. Through the narrow gap, she saw the empty streets outside. A heavy snowstorm had just hit Saint Sunil not long ago, and the entire city was covered in snow. On such a cold day, even the residents of the King's City would not walk around casually, not to mention that this was a commoner's alley near the outer city. The only thing the Duchess could see was the white streets and snow-covered roofs. Some areas had already been cleared of snow, but most places still maintained the appearance of having just stopped snowing.
In the corner of her sight, there was a collapsed house that seemed to have been crushed by the snow. Naturally, there were no residents in the ruins of the house. She did not know where the people who had once lived there had moved to, or where they had died.
The sound of flutes and drums was still echoing in this empty street, like a group of clowns trying to tell jokes on a stage without any audience. It was funny and weird, but the musicians did not care about this. The music they played was not to attract the nearby residents to come out and welcome the noble's carriage, but to let the soldiers at the back of the team quickly get into formation after entering the city. At the same time, it was also to remind the passers-by in front (if there were any) to quickly get out of the way.
Therefore, it was not a big deal if there was no response.
The cover of the carriage was closed.
The convoy passed through the slums in the south of the city, passed through the middle city where the citizens lived, and continued to drive toward the White Silver Fortress. After crossing the Iron Cross Street, the monotonous sound of drums from outside finally stopped, and more and more voices came from all directions.
The convoy entered the inner city where the upper-class citizens and small nobles lived. After crossing the street, this place finally showed a trace of prosperity as the capital of the kingdom.
On the wide streets, the snow had been swept away. The wealthy citizens and small nobles in colorful, thick winter clothes had already heard the sounds from the middle city and ran out of their houses to welcome the convoy into the city. The cold north wind and the blowing snowflakes could not dampen the enthusiasm of these people. They craned their necks and looked at the carriages with the emblem of the House of Wilde, the Royal Family, and the Church of Holy Light driving on the road. They cheered and praised. Winter flowers and colorful silk ribbons that were catalyzed by magic were thrown into the air, like colorful rain falling down. Those who threw the flowers and silk ribbons were all looking forward to the carriage in front of the convoy to open the window and greet them. In the past, the Northern Duchess and the Saintess Princess lived in castles and cathedrals, and ordinary wealthy citizens and small nobles did not have the opportunity to see their faces with their own eyes. Now that the convoy was passing through the wealthy area, this was a rare opportunity.
However, today's situation was clearly different from the past. While the crowd was looking forward, not a single carriage opened its cover. The entire procession maintained its speed and passed through the crowd without stopping. They passed through the entire street outside the Silver Castle and entered the castle in the distance …
Duchess Victoria, wearing a white dress, led her maids and attendants all the way through the atrium and the corridor of the main castle of the White Silver Castle. They arrived at the study on the upper floor of the castle. Franklin was wearing a warm and comfortable silk robe. He was sitting on a recliner by the fireplace, engrossed in reading a large book. Seeing the Duchess suddenly appear, the Grand Duke of the Western Region was startled for a moment, but then he quickly got up to greet her. "Ah, Duchess Wade, please forgive me for not going to the long hall to greet you. This book was too attractive to me."
Victoria glanced at the cover of the book in Duke Baldwin's hand and saw a series of words stamped in gold: "The History of the Evolution of Currency and the Changes of Trade Lines in the Northern Continent."
The Franklin family was known as the "Ansu's Purse." Because it was close to the multi-ethnic Aurelia tribal country, where trade was flourishing, the successive Dukes of the Western Region were all good at business. Franklin was one of the best among them. Naturally, his favorite book was also in this field.
But at this moment, after reading the book, Victoria couldn't help but sigh. "Perhaps this trip to the Southern Territory should have been let you go."
"Oh?" Bai Dewen? Franklin couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. "It seems that this trip didn't go well? Did our founding hero make things difficult for you? "
"No, everything went well. Gwen? Duke Cecil is very kind and friendly. We also did a big business. That's why I said you should go. "
The tone of the Duchess seemed to be calm as usual, but Bai Dewen, who had known her for a long time, saw a hint of imperceptible irritation in the eyes of this' Ice Queen. 'He put the book aside and said with a serious expression, "What did you see in the Southern Territory?"
"… A place better than Saint Sunil." Victoria deliberated over her words and took a long time to say this sentence. Then, she shook her head. "I will tell you more about the situation in the Southern Territory later. Now, let's talk about the results of this trip. "
Bai Dewen? Franklin listened carefully to Victoria's narration. His eyebrows were sometimes tight and sometimes relaxed, and his fingers unconsciously rubbed the ruby ring on his left hand. Although the Duchess had only briefly described the results of this trip to the Southern Territory, from the choice of words, he could still feel how much this' Queen of the North 'in front of him had been touched by that mysterious land in the Southern Territory.
This made him quite surprised and surprised. It turned out that there was still something in the world that could shake this frozen lady to this extent.
"So, Duke Cecil at least acquiesced to the coronation of Prince Wales and will not publicly support the Eastern Territory … and he also said that he will not use the emergency right of succession from seven hundred years ago." When Victoria's narration came to an end, Duke Bai Dewen said slowly, "This is better than we expected."
"Indeed." Victoria nodded. "In addition, he also agreed to provide armed assistance to the royal army. If I had not seen it with my own eyes, I'm afraid I would never have believed that extraordinary weapons could really be mass-produced."
Bai Dewen's interest was piqued. "What kind of equipment are they? Do you have any samples for me to see? "
"He gave me a sword and several sets of armor and weapons as samples," Victoria said and turned to the servant standing at the door. "Bring them in."
A heavy box was moved into the room, and the samples of the enchanted armor, the sword, the crystal grenade, and the heat ray launcher were presented in front of Duke Bai Dewen.
"… It is indeed an exquisite weapon," Bai Dewen said. Duke Bai Dewen looked at the machine-made weapons with a hint of admiration. He picked up a sword and examined it carefully in front of his eyes. He activated the magic mechanism of the sword according to Victoria's instructions. With a low buzzing sound, the thin layer of purple steel plating immediately covered the sword with a layer of scorching magic field.
"Oh, incredible …" Duke Bai Dewen's eyes widened slightly, but soon he frowned. "The internal magic operation is defective."
Victoria nodded and said, "That's true. As I said, its magic mechanism is very fragile. According to Duke Cecil, this is to save costs."
Duke Wade turned off the magic mechanism. As the sword gradually cooled down, his mind also cooled down from the curiosity of seeing new things. After a short moment of thinking, he looked at the duchess. "You just said that every replacement of a magic mechanism costs a gold coin?"
"Yes."
"… In addition to the sword called the sword, the magic core of the other equipment basically needs to be replaced frequently?"
"Indeed." Victoria nodded and said before Bai Dewen could speak. "You don't have to remind me. I know it will cost a lot. Although the magic core alone is cheap, it will consume a lot."
Bai Dewen looked at Victoria quietly, then slowly shook his head. "No, Duchess Wade, you don't know. You have underestimated the 'cost'. In fact, the cost of replacing the magic core is the real price of this transaction. Compared to that, the price of these swords and armors is not worth mentioning."
"So serious?" Victoria finally had a slight look of surprise in her eyes.
"Don't question my business acumen," Duke Bai Dewen said with a sigh. Franklin sighed deeply. "But don't be disheartened by what I've just said. We're facing an open conspiracy, and we have no other choice. Duke Cecil knows this, and that's why he proposed these conditions. Even if I were there, I would have to accept all of this. And even with such a high price, these weapons and armors … are still worth the money. "
"Worth the money …" Victoria looked at Duke Bai Dewen's helpless expression and calmed down again. "Anyway, let's first gather the mages and scholars to try to copy these weapons, dismantle their magic mechanisms, and figure out how these things work."
"Of course, we have to figure these things out," Bai Dewen said in a low voice, his tone full of emotion. "It's really … a lesson. I didn't know that business can be done this way."
"I'm afraid we have more lessons to learn this time." Victoria glanced at the Duke of the Western Region, who was lost in emotion. There was a hint of complexity in her tone. "After seeing the way Cecil lived, I realized one thing: in these 700 years of peace, the Ansu have not made any progress at all. Compared with our ancestors, we are too far behind."
"Oh?" Bai Dewen's tone rose, showing a curious look. "Tell me more about it …"
Victoria pondered for a moment and organized her words. "Let's start with their government office …"
…
"Cecil's business is very advanced. What we saw in the Kord Trading Company is only a small part of their business wisdom." Standing in the long hall of Solin Castle, Lorren told his father and Prince Edmund about his investigation in the Southern Region. "I tried to get in touch with a large number of merchants there. I also got in touch with their 'government office' as a merchant. I got in touch with a lot of their approval and management processes. I found that they have a very strict business monitoring. The degree of strictness is shocking, which is completely different from the impression we had when we first heard about the various new policies of Cecil's Principality."
Silas? Lorren listened to his son's report, and at the same time, his eyes occasionally fell on Prince Edmund, who was sitting at the head of the table. The young prince had lost all his immaturity. He was wearing a black steel light armor and a wolf-skin cloak draped over his shoulders. His face was less immature and more weathered. He sat on the seat of honor in the castle, listening to Belk's report attentively, and from time to time, showing a thoughtful look.
At the bottom of the steps, Lorren continued to speak. Lorren continued, "Their businesses are indeed open, but it's an openness that's under precise control. This explains why their chambers of commerce and emerging 'companies' can operate with such high efficiency, and at the same time, there are very few mistakes …."
"Under the operation of the 'factories', Cecil's material output is shockingly high. A lot of things can be sold as commodities, which has led to the emergence of many merchants specializing in wholesale and transportation of bulk goods. These merchants send large quantities of goods to distant places.
"Duke Cecil has built a lot of roads, connecting all the major cities and raw material production areas, and cooperating with the canals. They have a new magic device called the Arcanotech Car, which is a mechanical vehicle that runs automatically.
"In order to manage such a huge and complicated system, their government office is divided into many departments. Each department has a clear responsibility and corresponding supervision measures. Everyone is supervised, everyone is responsible for supervising others, and everyone has a clear work and assessment standard. Although we can't rule out that there are still loopholes, their government office has reached an incredible level in efficiency and management ability. I've copied down the list of their departments and all the rules and regulations that I can see …"
"It seems that the five years of mining rights in the White Sand Hills were not wasted," Prince Edmund suddenly said from the head of the table. "We finally saw something useful."
"Your Highness," Lorren stood up and said. Lorren stood up and said, "Your previous ideas about the new policies seem to be correct. Duke Cecil has only taken a step forward in this direction. His experience is of great significance to us."
"That's right," Prince Edmund nodded, his expression unusually serious. "These experiences will make us stronger, and we must become stronger as soon as possible. We … don't have much time."
"Yes, we don't have much time."
In the main hall of the castle, everyone understood the deeper meaning of Prince Edmund's words.
The Ansu did not have much time left for the Typhon Empire, which was eyeing them covetously.
(Begging for a monthly ticket!!)
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